Intellectual Property and Commercialization
Unlock the full potential of your Intellectual Property (IP) resulting from research or entrepreneurship activities
As a research or entrepreneurship partner with Sheridan, are you looking for support to pursue the protection of your intellectual property (IP) or explore commercialization opportunities?
Often your most valuable business assets are not physical, tangible property, but rather the creations of your mind. These intangible assets, called intellectual property (IP), come in many forms, including patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and more. Each comes with specific legal protections that offer layers of defense against competitors trying to replicate your success.
Through funding from Intellectual Property Ontario (IPON), Generator at Sheridan has partnered with Conestoga College’s Centre for Commercialization (C4C) to support our partners with their IP and commercialization goals. C4C’s experienced IP specialists will work closely with you to help build your understanding and capacity around IP and commercialization options to help maximize the impact of your research, innovation or entrepreneurship outcomes. See here for examples of how organizations have benefited from these supports.
Available services include:
- IP queries: Receive information on protecting your IP and navigating the IP process.
- IP and commercialization consultations: Receive tailored guidance to bring your products or services to market successfully.
- Specialized services: Receive additional specialized services across the innovation spectrum, from ideation to prototype to commercial stages, including preliminary freedom-to-operate analysis, whitespace analysis, IP audits, IP strategy development, preparation for IP filing, and licensing strategy development.
- Access to legal support: Additional referrals may be provided for small and medium-sized enterprises to access funding support for legal services for commercialization and IP protection.
Sheridan is committed to helping entrepreneurs and small-to-medium-sized enterprises achieve their business goals with sound IP strategies. Whether you’re just beginning your IP journey or looking to enhance your existing strategy, we’re here to collaborate with you.
To access these supports, please complete an intake form here:
Contact
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Benefits of partnering with Sheridan on IP and Commercialization
As a research or entrepreneurship partner of Sheridan, we can help you mitigate some of the risks and costs associated with innovation and growth. At Sheridan, external partners typically fully retain the IP when they partner with us for research or innovation, but this can often be a complex area to navigate once the project is completed. We are happy to support you along the way with information and support on IP protection options and helpful resources, including referrals for IP and commercialization guidance, and access to legal services to pursue the protection of your IP.
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Resources
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Statement on the Ontario Commercialization Mandate Framework
View the Commercialization Policy
The Province of Ontario issued its Commercialization Mandate Policy Framework in early 2022. The objective of Ontario’s Commercialization Mandate Policy Framework is to harness the intellectual property generated with the institution’s resources to achieve Ontario’s goal of ensuring that made-in-Ontario innovations benefit Ontarians.
Sheridan is committed to supporting Ontario’s Commercialization Mandate Policy Framework within the context of the role Ontario colleges play in applied research and innovation.
Sheridan is uniquely positioned to collaborate with industry partners to advance innovation and facilitate commercialization of intellectual property in Ontario that creates economic and social benefits for our communities. In particular, applied research activities taking place at Ontario’s publicly funded colleges in partnership with small and medium-sized enterprises create innovative solutions to challenges being experienced in our communities in a variety of settings. These innovations will be a key driver for sustainable economic recovery, growth, and competitiveness in Ontario and will be critically important as we collectively emerge from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In order to increase innovation at the community and regional level, Sheridan will continue to rely on funding from granting agencies, primarily federal agencies, as the operating funding provided to colleges does not reflect the overhead costs of exploring, developing and overseeing applied research projects.
Ontario’s Commercialization Mandate Framework provides an opportunity to advance the role of the publicly funded college sector in research and innovation. Sheridan looks forward to continuing to support our partners in the commercialization of intellectual property to realize the full benefits for all Ontarians.
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Annual Commercialization Statement
As part of the requirements from Intellectual Property Ontario (IPON), Sheridan has posted the following updates regarding our Annual Commercialization Plans.
Year 2: In 2023/2024 we applied for and were successfully awarded IPON funding to help Sheridan build critical capacity to provide supports and guidance on intellectual property and commercialization to industry partners. The new funding will enable support for our external partners with resources and expertise to advise on IP opportunities, as well as provide financial assistance with the costs associated with commercialization and IP protection. We are excited to help Sheridan’s applied research partners confidently take steps to bring their products and services to market.
Year 1: Our Year One Annual Commercialization Plan (ACP) reflects the unique research funding context for Ontario colleges. The operating funding provided to colleges by the province is designed to support the core education and training mandate of colleges and does not reflect the overhead costs of exploring, developing and overseeing research projects. Within this context, our ACP over the next year reflects ongoing work and what we can reasonably continue to sustain in the absence of further resources.
Areas of focus for our first ACP include:
- Enhancing engagement with industry partners
- Raising awareness and promoting access to relevant supports and resources
- Further enhancing our research, innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem